ECONOMIDES TAKES GLOBAL ROLE AT TBWA: MCCANN VETERAN WILL OVERSEE ALL MULTINATIONAL CLIENTS FOR AGENCY

Peter Economides' new job title of worldwide director of patron clients may evoke images of arts benefactors, but his responsibilities at TBWA International are 100% business.

Mr. Economides, 43, recently took the new post at TBWA in New York after 18 years at McCann-Erickson Worldwide, where he most recently was exec VP-director of worldwide accounts in charge of Coca-Cola Co.

Now reporting to TBWA Chairman-CEO Bill Tragos, Mr. Economides will oversee worldwide accounts, seeking to increase the agency's billings from these clients and underscoring their importance to TBWA's growth.

"We can grow with that client as they expand their portfolio, and if we do good work in one market, we may be able to attract that client's business in another area," Mr. Economides said.

"What I am trying to do is to make our advertising more cohesive across international borders," Mr. Economides said.

One way he intends to do that is by setting up virtual project rooms where staffers from far-flung offices can plug into the Internet or an intranet to communicate client information and share good ideas.

Mr. Economides doesn't see the new agency structure leading to more global marketing campaigns for TBWA clients, however.

NEED FOR FLEXIBILITY

"Different clients demand different kinds of treatment," he said. "We need to have a tremendous amount of flexibility. Trying to tailor one point of view on one particular account is very impossible. For most clients, it makes more sense to have a global strategy with different executions for each country."

It would be hard to top Mr. Economides' international experience. He has worked in Greece, Hong Kong, Mexico, New York and South Africa for Coca-Cola. He also has worked with General Motors Corp., Levi Strauss & Co., L'Oreal and Nestle.

At McCann, his former post for Coca-Cola is being filled on an interim basis by